Hey, what happened to civil discourse for solving our nation's problems?

Is it time for a national chill pill? What has happened to get folks so darned mad at one another? Schoolyard bullying seems to have replaced civil discourse. When did we start fearing rather than celebrating the richness of our diverse citizenry and differing points of view?

I’ve heard way too many vicious, hateful statements over the past few months — in the news, from lawmakers, from acquaintances, some subtle, some in the form of crude jokes, and some just plain ignorant. And a disturbing number came from people in positions of leadership.

Maybe I’m naïve, but I simply don’t understand the growing intolerance in these United States of America. After all we’ve stood for? Fought for? Sacrificed? Wasn’t freedom our goal? And doesn’t freedom include tolerance?

Where are the civil servants willing to at least try to represent all of us? To at least try to work together to solve our nation’s problems. What has happened to civil discourse in the halls of Congress and the Senate?

What happened to the ...

heart and soul of our patriotism as professed in the Declaration of Independence? “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

How can we ever hope to realize unalienable Rights that include “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” for all our citizens without civil discourse? And how do we have civil discourse if we’re not willing to listen? And what’s with the superiority complex that gives rise to oppressing those less fortunate? How can we “form a more perfect Union” without acknowledging and exploring the rich diversity comprising that Union?

As I pondered these questions, including a painful examination of my own shameful biases, a friend happened to email a link to a commencement speech given by J.K. Rowling of Harry Potter fame. Themed “the advantages of failure,” the 18-minute speech was brilliant, inspiring and timely.

“We do not need magic to transform the world,” the acclaimed author said in concluding her speech. “We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already. We have the power to imagine better.”

We do indeed. But it will take a real commitment to civil discourse, unalienable Rights, Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness for all our citizens — feats worthy of real, honest-to-goodness superiority.

This post is excerpted from my weekly column in The Daily Sentinel as published in the June 3, 2012, edition of the newspaper.